About 15 years ago, I had a Frederic Mistral rose. It was a wonderful monster for years: big, healthy, loaded with blooms. Then, I transplanted it out of a big pot into the ground and it didn't like its new home, was diseased frequently, and finally I gave up on it. I've been hoping that Heirloom Roses would finally be able to sell this rose, and as soon as I saw it on the catalog, I bought three. They are all super-healthy, even in this terrible heat we had in the summer, but now that the rains and cooler days/nights are here, they are taking off gloriously! Lots of greenery, and lots of buds! I cut the first one today to bring indoors and it opened up beautifully, with its delicious scent. I'm so happy to have my favorite rose back in my garden! I have a lot of flower beds to fill, and if past is prologue, the Freddies will cover a lot of real estate.
I planted my first Frederic Mistral about 20 years ago. The blooms are stunning: true hybrid tea form with a dense flower in cool pink tones. The scent is incredible! Put one or two in a vase and you can sniff the scent in other rooms. Does have some blackspot -- but I don't fuss too much with that and don't like using chemical sprays around my dog.
I have fallen in love with Frederic Mistral! I suppose it takes a wonderful rose to represent a Nobel Prize winning poet, and this rose is wonderful! Only planted this summer, it has been healthy and growing strongly. It's still blooming now while trees are dropping their leaves. The flowers are a lovely warm shade of pink, darker in the center with excellent substance, and the fragrance, rich and exquisite! What more can I expect from a rose--perfection!
This rose gets 7' tall x 4' wide for me although, the description says 5' tall.
It develops a lot of Black Spot. We treat Black Spot but probably not as vigilant as the most strict rosarian. I want to enjoy my roses, not have to care for them all of the time.
The blooms are fragrant, large, hybrid t shaped but have splotches of cherry red in the pink blooms. To me, it looks splotchy but some may like it. No one tells you about this unusual characteristic of the blooms.
Although the fragrance if very nice, I wouldn't recommend it. There are other roses out there that stay more compact and have a good fragrance.